rwh

Ok, I've put it off for a long time, but now with fields shrinking, neighbors complaining, and performance improving I guess I'll put my toe into the electric arena this coming year.

The thing is...... I don't want some wussy little 2 foot Styrofoam cub that floats in a light breeze nor do I want to commit $1000 to brush less motors and 30 cells to electrify some 25 lb Pitts Special so I can have an exciting 3 minute ride.

I'll compromise on something like a Somethin' Extra as it would fly with a 0.50 or 0.60. I'll even live with a 5 minute flight time.

Is anybody else just waiting for the right electric combo to come along? Something with a little life to it?

Steve Lewin

5 years ago I watched an electric 1/4 scale Extra do everything in the book for about 8 minutes. But even up to 2 or 3 years ago it was not easy getting cheap lively electric models. Now they're all over the place and we just go flying, quietly.

Steve

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

I am going to get rid of all of my glow and gas stuff and go all electric.....

Right after I burn all my planes and replace them with BARF's

Mike James

I'm extremely interested, especially for a large twin-engine project I'm doing. The reliability of electric flight over glow is what started me investigating, but here are some other reasons:

1. It's dependable...No fiddling with fuel, mixture settings, glow plugs, starters, etc..

2. It's clean...No "goo" to attack the finish on your model, no "goo" to wipe off after flying, and no "goo" to gradually fuel-soak and weaken structures.

3. It's nearly vibration-free, enabling much lighter structures to be built.

4. Since the system is so reliable, the excess power normally built into glow-powered models can be reduced, which saves weight. This allows safer flight at more scale-like speeds.

Initial costs seem high, but really are not, when compared to glow power's fuel and maintenance. On a 1990 videotape called "Power for Performance", Keith Shaw mentions that he had been flying his large, scale, electric twin for over 9 years, without any engine maintenance! He noted that no glue joints had vibrated loose, no structures were fuel-soaked, and the model's exterior finish showed virtually no wear. Finally, he mentioned that although three people he knew of had built the same model for glow power, at a weight of 12 to 15 pounds, he was able to build his at 7 pounds!

I hope we can have these benefits and still have the power and duration that makes it really worthwhile.

BillBo

My Feedback: (6)

I have three glow planes and two electrics. I enjoy all of them. Somehow though, I always have a bigger smile after flying my electrics.

Billbo

pda4you

I finally joined the electric crew when we lost our glow site. I still fly both.

Here are the advantages to electric:
I walk 1 block away and fly in soccer field.
No glow mess.
Support equipment in one small box.
Planes are small and can travel well.
Quiet.
No glow engine "tuning"

Advantage to glow:
Power -vs- weight is outstanding.
Cheaper - generally.
Love it when my SE goes straight up till it's a speck.
Much easier to determine power options and many more options seem to exist.

I would not start with a SE as your first electric conversion. It is an expensive setup. By the way I have seen an electric SE that will do everything a glow will for about 6-7 minute flights. However that is with a $200 brushless motor $100 esc and more $$ in batteries and charger.
I fly a couple of small planes - Herr Cloud ranger and 1/2a Lanier Shrike (fast). I have $10 motors and $30 esc's in them and they both fly great! I now get 10x the stick time I did flying glow alone - simply due to the fact I can fly them 2 minutes from home. My new glow field is 40Mins round trip. Performance on both of these planes is 70-80% that of glow. Not bad...

Mike

bpryor

My Feedback: (45)

I don't see electrics as a replacement for glow or gas(unless you have to), but an additional option that allows you to fly R/C more. I have almost totally giant scale gas, but I also have a Zagi and a Bleriot park flyer.....also, I just did a review for RCU(check it out in this month's issue of RCU Magazine) of the twin engine Aventura III seaplane. What a gas. :-) It gets off the water with ease and really has tons of power with 8 minute flight times. For noise sensitive areas electrics are a great alternative. At our field recently we had an electric fun fly and some of the electrics that showed up were pretty amazing. Including some German high-performance sailplanes that were virtually rockets and fully aerobatic.

RCPilot100

My Feedback: (4)

I converted an electric guy to glow this year - he is now considering a gas burner in a big 3D plane. Don't you just love it.

Dan

khen

Here is the plane for you if you want a cheap 3D gas alternative it is called the E3D designed by Gary Wright and can be built for around $250. Check out the videos on his sight for both the E3D and the KwikE. I converted to electric after flying gas for years and I will never go back to gas.

http://www.gwmp.net

Jim Finn

My Feedback: (2)

I always wonder why people worry about the 6 min flights with electric power systems. Just(1) land(2) insert another battery pack and(3) take off. No big deal. I fly at our club field and I am the only electric flyer there and I spend a lot more time in the air that the glo flyers do. I have multiple battery packs and chargers.

khen

I used to feel the same way when I flew gas but it was just how I perceived electric. I am now flying all electric and just sold off the last of my gas stuff. I can fly non stop all day with planes that are every bit as powerful as any glow plane I ever owned. I was at the field today and there was a guy with a glow plane troubleshooting his engine I pulled out my 50" brushless electric plane and rolled it on the ground for 3 or so feet and launched vertical till it was tiny then pulled back the throttle to 1/2 and proceeded to fly some aerobatics. The guy took a break from his engine and came over to probe for info on my electrics. I wouldn't be suprised if the next time I saw him he had an electric.

I think that there may be advantages to glow but power and flight time are not two of them. I would say that electrics can be more expensive to get into and there is a steeper learning curve figuring out the best batteries/motor/gearbox for a given plane.

The other misconception about electrics is that they are all small lightweight things that can't be flown in the wind. This is because most of the major manufactuers have not yet built larger electric specific planes so for your larger planes you have to either know who makes them, convert a glow plane or scratch build. Here are some good sources for larger electric kits/ARF's

http://www.espritmodel.com/

http://www.nesail.com

Don't get me wrong I am a gas engine fanatic when it comes to other things, my garage is full of old riding lawnmowers, trimmers, snowblowers, go karts, quads, scooters, and so on, but when it comes to flying RC planes I just feel more satisfied after a day of flying electrics in fact so much so that I have become an electric evangelist(as you have probably noticed).

BMatthews

Yep. multiple batteries and chargers....

You can get some amazing performance out of 3D models using only 10 cells and a hot wind brush motor.

For that matter don't pass over the small stuff until you see a Speed 400 racer fly. FAAAaaaassssttttt and big zoomy loops, and twinkle rolls that'll challenge your reflexes. And all from a $7 motor and 8 cheap cells.

And what happened to the poll? I'm only seeing the results and I'm sure I've never voted yet.

Wright Flyer

If you change option (2) to be "insert LiPoly pack" then you can take off and stay up as long as those I/C planes anyway!

Cliff

PS Anyone know why I don't get a [Vote] button? I'd be another vote for "I have and like Electrics" if the system allowed it.